The Care and Cleaning of Rubber Stamps and Ink Pads

The Care and Cleaning of Rubber Stamps and Ink Pads. Care for your rubber stamps and ink pads and they will last a long, long, long time.

Care
for your rubber stamps and ink pads and they will last a long, long, long
time.

Storing Rubber StampsThe most important thing to remember is to store your rubber stamps
away from direct sunlight as this can eventually damage the rubber. Other
than that, where you keep them is up to you. Many people like shallow
boxes where the stamps can be stored in a single, easy to look at, layer.
I use hanging clear shoe bags to store a lot of stamps in the closet.
If you have a creative stamp storage solution, let us know!

Cleaning Rubber StampsIt's important to keep your rubber stamps clean, otherwise the ink
from one project is likely to bleed onto the prints of another. That said,
some inks stain and will be impossible to get completely clean. Learn
the difference between a stain, which won't effect future use of the stamp,
and dried on ink, which will.

Try to clean rubber stamps as soon after using them as possible. If you
clean your stamps quickly, water is often all that's necessary. You can
also buy special stamp cleaning fluid from your crafts store (this is
especially necessary when using solvent
inks.

Another handy item available at your stamp or craft supply store is
a stamp cleaning pad. This resembles a large white ink pad but instead
of foam it has a fabric scrubbing surface. You spray your stamps with
cleaning fluid, then scrub it back and forth on one side of the scrubber
pad to get the ink off, then the other side to dry the stamp.

A couple of household items can also come in handy when cleaning rubber
stamps. An old toothbrush can help to gently scrub stubborn ink out of
detail areas of a stamp.

Baby wipes also do a good job of cleaning inked rubber stamps, providing
they are alcohol and lint free.

Storing
and Caring for Stamp PadsOld stamp pads never die -- they just get re-inked. Don't throw out
your stamp pads, you can buy bottles of refill ink and bring them back
to life. Inks come in small squeeze bottles. To re-ink your pad, spread
a thin layer of ink as evenly as possible over the pad, then use a stiff
piece of card stock or a piece of heavy plastic (such as an old credit
card) to drag across the pad and spread the ink.

There is no need to store foam pads upside down, although felt dye based
ink pads can benefit from this. Be careful storing rainbow pads -- keep
them level or their inks could run together.